The Tall Man
by tloyc2012
Summary: The first time Harry Potter saw the Slender Man, he had just begun primary school. It was also the last day of the Dursley's lives. Currently rated T for disturbing content, violence, non-graphic child abuse and Slender Man. Rating will likely go up. Inspired by MajinBakaHentai's Harry Potter and the Slender Man challenge.
1. Prologue: Slender Man

**Introductory A/N**

Hey, guys. I, uh... yeah, I was browsing the Internet looking for Slender Man/Harry Potter crossovers when I saw this challenge, 'Harry Potter and the Slender Man.' Uh, here's a basic summary:

REQUIRED

-Harry's first sighting of Slender Man is his first day of primary school.

-Slender Man decides he likes Harry, and kills the Dursleys (and three other abusive foster families) when they injure him.

-Slender Man takes a sort of 'guardian' role in Harry's life, in addition to stalking him as normal.

-Slender Man _DOES NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES _have **_anything_ **to do with Voldemort.

OPTIONAL

-The Quibbler has a regular column about the Slender Man; like usual, people take it to be more of Xeno Lovegood's usual nonsense, moreso then usual thanks to most wizards and witches refusing to believe in magical (or whatever) creatures that are invisible even to them.

-Snape is _also _someone who can see the Slender Man, through, perhaps, a brief stalking case in his childhood.

ETC.

Let's begin, now, then, I guess...

Oh, one last thing. Slender Man will always be referred to as Him, It or Slender Man, or another one of his names. All personal pronouns will have a capitalized H to distinguish him, outside of Author's Notes.

DISCLAIMER

If you recognize it, I don't own it. Chances are, if you don't recognize it (Slender Man being mostly an Internet thing and all) it's still probably not mine.

* * *

PROLOGUE

Slender Man

* * *

The first time Harry Potter saw Him, he thought He was a teacher he hadn't met yet. Thinking nothing of it, he turned away and continued playing with the few children who were nice to him. He'd find out who He was in time, he figured. He had other things on his mind, such as the fact he had a name. The Dursleys, nasty as they may have been, were at least willing to keep him inside until his 'freakishness' was less likely to pop out out of nowhere.

It hadn't helped, but it certainly had helped them keep his own name from him. 'Harry Potter' was a nice name.

As his back was turned, he didn't notice Him disappearing behind a tree with a young child by the name of Anthony Lewis.

* * *

"Boy! You've been using your- your _freakishness _to be _'better'_ then Dudley at school, have you?!"

Harry didn't know how to react. "Uh... I... wha...?"

Uncle Vernon took that as a firm Yes. Harry, however, was more concerned about the man in the window. It looked like His back was turned to him... but they were on the second floor...

"Well, then, we're going to have to teach you _normal learning!_" And with that, he dragged Harry to the bedroom, grabbed his spare belt specially reserved for this (he didn't want any of that freakish shit on his other belt) and, using it like a whip, proceeded to all but torture Harry for several hours.

Harry still couldn't get his mind off of the man in the window. He was so deep in thought that he could hardly feel the blows.

_No face._

* * *

DURSLEY FAMILY FOUND DEAD IN HOME!

Child abusers? Unknown boy found in cupboard; claims to be Dursley nephew

Daniel Richards

* * *

SIX YEARS LATER

Number Four, Privet Drive

* * *

A sigh. A groan. Some other type of moan, perhaps, escaped Harry's mouth. This was the third time he'd been sent back to Privet Orphanage - that was what the house had been converted to, in no small part thanks to the Dursley's surprising amount of money stored in the bank, or so he had been told. He didn't understand it as well as most, but he was a child. That was natural.

He had been told that the Dursleys - and the Oaks, the Woods and the Birches - had been doing something very bad. Child abuse, they said. Illegal. Every time they died, there was proof they had been doing something... bad to him. Hit him. Yelled at him. Anything. And every time, the family was completely wiped out. The entire family tree. Even the ones locked up in prison and asylums were dead. No one knew what to make of it.

Some of the more religious people theorized he had a particularly violent Guardian Angel, or some sort of Guardian _Demon._ Harry knew precisely what was doing it all, and honestly wished It would stop. It scared him. He had once briefly entertained the idea of killing himself, but didn't. Something stopped him. Every time.

"Harry! Letter for you," said the postman. They had gotten to know eachother a bit - his name was John, a rather ordinary man with a dull and uninteresting life. But they were friends.

"Letter for me? From who?"

"Dunno, says something about a school." John tossed him the letter. He caught it in midair - he'd always had good reflexes and a keen eye, both of which were kept exercised by the tall man's sudden appearances every now and then. Eyes more then reflexes, as He rarely gave him a reason to run.

The letter read 'HOGWARTS, SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY.' Harry snorted. Prank letter. But how did they know his _exact address?_ They knew where he slept, even- _surely, _the tall man wasn't working for them in some way?

He caught a glimpse of a pale, blank head shaking side-to-side in his periphery vision. But when he turned to look, He was gone.

And so was John, too.

* * *

_The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown._

-H.P. Lovecraft


	2. Chapter One: Letter from No One

DISCLAIMER

If you recognize it, I don't own it. Chances are, even if you _don't _recognize it (Slender Man being mostly an internet thing and all) I still don't own it.

* * *

CHAPTER ONE

Letter from No One

* * *

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later then 31 July._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva_ _McGonagall_

* * *

Harry blinked. Retrieving the list, he was surprised to find a comprehensive, well, list of everything he would need. People he had never heard of before, items that had no reason to be commonly used anymore - what did it mean by 'we await your owl?' - this was either a very complicated prank or a very unconvincing letter.

He decided to ignore it and wait to see what would happen.

* * *

ONE MONTH LATER

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was deep in thought. Harry was coming to Hogwarts this year. In fact, two months from now the train would pull in to Hogsmeade Station, carrying Harry and the rest of the students. But Harry had to be handled carefully. No, no, he wasn't concerned about Harry being abused - that was simply a bonus. Harry would be much more loyal to him that way.

No, he was more concerned about who he was going to send to get Harry. Hagrid might do, but - then again, perhaps it would be best to give him no kindness until they met? Maybe. Hagrid would be best.

"Di' ya call for me, 'eadmaster?"

"Ah, Hagrid. Yes, yes... I think it's about time you took young Harry to Diagon Alley, don't you?"

Hagrid was almost gleeful.

* * *

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Harry was jolted awake. KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. Someone was at the door? KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK. The tall man was at the window again. Harry ignored Him, instead getting up and going downstairs to answer the door. A giant of a man - rather round, as well - was at the door.

"Uh... hello?"

The man ignored him, walking in and sitting down on a couch. Then, after several seconds, he - at last - introduced himself. "You'd be 'arry Potter, righ'?"

"My name's Harry, yeah. You're from- you're from Pigwarts or wh-"

"Hogwarts, 'arry, Hogwarts. Did the Dursleys tell y' nothin'?"

"Uh... the Dursleys are dead, Mr..."

The man blinked. Then, he blinked again. "Hagrid," he said, slightly shocked.

"Yes... well... they're dead. They couldn't really tell me anything. Actually, they didn't bother telling me my name until I was five."

His expression of surprise turned to outrage. "They didn' tell ye- tell you _anythin'?!_"

"No- well, nothing about... wizards or magic or any of that." He suddenly had a feeling as if he was being watched. He didn't turn around, instead focusing on Hagrid.

"Well... tha' complicates things," he said after a brief pause. "Best t' get right to it. Hang on," he said, pulling out a very ruffled-looking owl from one of his coat's many pockets. He then jotted down a letter using parchment - _parchment -_ and a quill.

_**Professor Dumbledore,**_

_Found Harry. Taking him to Diagon Alley now. Hope you're well. Will explain how it went later._

_**Hagrid**_

He then attached the letter to the owl and tossed it out the window. "...anyway, we'd best get goin', then. Let's see..." He proceeded to rifle through several of his pockets, eventually pulling out a jar filled with green powder. "Floo powder. Good for travellin' long distances if you're not too keen on brooms or Apparatin'. Alright... you just.. take some of this..." He opened the jar and stuck it out to Harry. "Step into th' fireplace and say 'Diagon Alley.' Be real clear. Don' want to get shot through a fireplace somewhere in Bulgaria, do y'?"

Harry nervously took some of the powder and stepped into the fireplace. "Uh... alright, then... Diagon Alley!"

An explosion of green. When it cleared up, he found himself on a street. Buildings surrounded him, most of them strange in one way or another - one of them was upside-down, another was leaning forwards and, by all rights, should have fallen down on top of him, but didn't. He caught sight of some sort of newspaper or magazine.

_THE QUIBBLER, _it was named.

_Special Edition: Harry Potter returns to the Wizarding World! _was one of the more prominent topics. Walking over to it, he took one of the copies - the pictures were _moving?_ - and read several of the pages. He quickly found it to be mostly garbage - though some of the subjects were disturbingly accurate (how did Lovegood know where he had lived?) most were usually hilariously nonsensical, inaccurate or simply insane. One article, however, caught his eye.

_Xenophilius's Daily Column, Article #188_

_Firestorm! Harry Potter's Muggle school burned down! Is our hero being stalked?_

There, plastered across the page, was a picture of a school. His school. Its ruins.

Him.

The Wizarding World - was that what everyone called it? - knew about Him.

He stared at the picture for a long time, in disbelief. Nothing else entered his mind.

_..believed to be caused by the Slender Man, the subject of quite a few of my articles - everyone knows Him by now, surely? The tall, faceless man. Most of you don't think He exists, but I continue to tell the truth in hopes that it will one day convince you..._

Slender Man.

That was what It was called.

When Hagrid shook him, saying "You alrigh'?" he was jolted back to reality. The Slender Man was everywhere. Everywhere he looked. Blending into the crowds, looking down at him in a window. Blink- closer. Closer.

"Don' be readin' any of Xeno's nonsense. Quibbler's not exactly known for bein', er, reliable."

_CLOSER_

Harry turned away and placed the newspaper back. He'd get a copy of that and see what else this thing could tell him, but not right now. He had other things to do.

* * *

LOVEGOOD HOUSE BURNED DOWN!

Elliot P.

* * *

_The only thing we have to fear is fear Itself._

Franklin D. Roosevelt


End file.
